Efim Geller - Notable Chess Games

Notable Chess Games

  • Alexander Kotov vs Efim Geller, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, King's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation (E68), 0–1 Geller makes his debut at the top Soviet event, and makes sure he's noticed with wins like this.
  • Tigran Petrosian vs Efim Geller, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, King's Indian Defence, Petrosian Variation (E93), 0–1 Petrosian's new system gets a rough ride in one of its first games.
  • Efim Geller vs Alexei Sokolsky, USSR Championship, Moscow 1950, French Defence, Winawer Variation (C18), 1–0 A drastic victory spurred by a new opening idea on White's eighth move.
  • Mikhail Botvinnik vs Efim Geller, Budapest 1952, King's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation (E68), 0–1 Geller wins a crucial game over the World Champion.
  • Efim Geller vs Paul Keres, USSR Championship, Tbilisi 1959, Nimzo–Indian Defence, Rubinstein Variation (E45), 1–0 Keres had a big edge in wins over Geller early on, but Geller started to close the gap.
  • Efim Geller vs Bobby Fischer, Curaçao Candidates 1962, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation (B92), 1–0 Rising American star Bobby Fischer gets overrun by Geller's queenside advance.
  • Efim Geller vs Boris Spassky, USSR Spartakiad 1964, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B83), 1–0 Geller had the edge over Spassky in tournament play, but the younger Spassky dominated in their two matches.
  • Efim Geller vs Vasily Smyslov, Candidates' Match, Moscow 1965, game 5, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D87), 1–0 A fabulous tactical masterpiece involving repeated Queen sacrifices, exploiting Black's weak back rank.
  • Efim Geller vs Bent Larsen, Playoff Match, Copenhagen 1966, game 2, Sicilian Defence, Richter–Rauzer Variation (B69), 10 Larsen is a tactical wizard who gets outplayed in this encounter.
  • Leonid Stein vs Efim Geller, USSR Team Championship, Moscow 1966, King's Indian Defence, Averbakh Variation (E70), 0–1 Two King's Indian maestros go toe-to-toe, and Geller comes out on top.
  • Bobby Fischer vs Efim Geller, Skopje 1967, Sicilian Defence, Velimirovic Attack (B89), 0–1 During a stretch when Fischer was beating virtually everybody else, Geller was dominating Fischer. Here Fischer miscalculates and is drastically punished.
  • Efim Geller vs David Bronstein, Kislovodsk 1968, Sicilian Defence, de la Bourdonnais Variation (B32), 1–0 Bronstein was another player who dominated Geller at first, but Geller persevered and started winning.
  • Efim Geller vs Viktor Korchnoi, Candidates' Match, Moscow 1971, game 4, Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation (B78), 1–0 When it came to a theoretical duel, Geller could certainly hold his own with anyone.
  • Efim Geller vs Mikhail Tal, Moscow 1975, Pirc Defence (B08), 1–0 A tactical melee between two attacking geniuses.
  • Efim Geller vs Anatoly Karpov, USSR Championship, Moscow 1976, French Defence, Winawer Variation (C16), 1–0 Geller crosses up World Champion Karpov, whom he was coaching, with a surprise in the opening, to counter Karpov's own unusual defensive choice.

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